Unwise “conservatives” endorse Mark Kirk

Three years ago the liberal Republican Judy Baar Topinka won the nomination for governor in part because of the theory that it would take a “moderate” Republican to win statewide. That theory was destroyed when Topinka won less than forty percent of the vote in the general election.

That’s right, less than 40%. That Associated Press called the race one minute after the polls closed. It wasn’t even close.

You would think that three years later some people in Illinois would have learned, but I guess not.

Mark Kirk is “moderate” just like Topinka. You can learn more about his liberal positions here. At his campaign announcement yesterday for the U.S. Senate, some of the usual suspects surrounded him. Liberal former governorJim Edgar, liberal Illinois Senate Leader Christine Radogno, and liberal Illinois House Leader Tom Cross.

Oh, and Illinois GOP Chairman Andy “No Litmus Test” McKenna.

Evidently the state party sent out an “argument for Mark Kirk” that listed the names of a few people who endorsed his candidacy. The state party lied about Kirk Dillard‘s endorsement. You can read about that lie here.

A handfull of people who consider themselves “conservatives” were also listed. Also included were a few knucklehead U.S. Senators from Washington, D.C., whose legacy includes helping lead the U.S. Senate Republican contingent down to 40 seats.

As for the endorsing “conservatives,” their political calculation is that Kirk won’t have a real opponent in the race so they might as well succumb to peer pressure, drop their principles, and go along to get along. The problem is, their political calculators have never worked all that well.

“The real point is to show what kinds of behaviors produce what kinds of consequences — in the economy, in the family, in the government and in other aspects of human life.”

If you’re wondering why the Illinois GOP is a joke, you need only take a look at the behavior of many of those who consider themselves conservative Republicans here in the Prairie State.

Sowell comments about a phenomenon that takes place in society between government and culture:

“Government policies are not only affected by the culture of the country but can in turn have a major impact on that culture, for good or ill.”

What happens between government and culture also happens between politics and the character of certain individuals. Without courage that’s set on the hard rock of principle, it’s not uncommon to see otherwise intelligent people set aside all common sense.

I previously addressed the topic of “intelligence” here and here, and I have referred to the ability to get elected to political office as a stupid human trick. Don’t be fooled by the resumes of those who endorsed Kirk yesterday. This state didn’t descend to where it is today because we’ve been blessed by a large number of wise leaders.

Codevilla’s book was written, Sowell said –

– “to clarify the issues facing us all today when ‘the character of the American way of life is up for grabs perhaps more than ever before,’ as the author puts it.”

Wrong-headed endorsements can be costly. If Illinois had more clear thinking strong conservatives involved in politics, we would have seen the kind of unity that would have resulted in the over-throw of the Thompson-Edgar-Hastert-McKenna failed wing of the party a long time ago.

The good news is that there is still time for Mark Kirk to get a top tier opponent, one that can unite those who are sick to death of the kind of Republicans that have given us Democratic Party control both here and in Washington, D.C.

“Among these patterns have been a concentration of decision-making power in government officials, an undermining of the role of the family, a ‘non-judgmental’ attitude toward behavior and a dissolution of the common bonds that hold a society together, leading to atomistic self-indulgences and group-identity politics that increasingly pits different segments of society against each other.”

The same applies to state-level politics in a place were some “political calculators” regularly malfunction.

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“If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.” —James Madison (1792)